Fantasy sports are games where the participants, as ‘‘owners,’’ assemble ‘‘simulated teams’’ with rosters and/or lineups of actual players of a professional sport. These games are generally played over the Internet using computer or mobile software applications.

Fantasy sports cover a number of actual professional sports leagues, including the NFL, the MLB, the NBA, the NHL, the MLS, NASCAR, as well as college sports such as NCAA football and basketball. Fantasy sports can be divided into two types: (1) traditional fantasy sports, which track player performance over the majority of a season, and (2) daily fantasy sports, which track player performance over a single game.

The owners of these simulated teams compete against one another based on the statistical performance of actual players in actual games. The actual players’ performance in specific sporting events is converted into ‘‘fantasy points’’ such that each actual player is assigned a specific score. An owner will then receive a total score that is determined by compiling the individual scores of each player in the owner’s lineup. Thus, although the owners select lineups, once the lineup has been selected------at least in the context of daily fantasy sports------the owners have basically no ability to control the outcome of the simulated games.

Specifically, the owners of the simulated teams have no ability to control how many points their simulated teams receive from an actual player’s performance. The actual players in the actual games control their own performance. As a result, after an owner places a bet and sets a final lineup, the owner has no ability to influence the outcome of a simulated game. At that point, the owner waits to see what happens based upon the performance of the actual players selected. (Excerpt from Attorney General of Nevada Report)